Ambulation device

ABSTRACT

An ambulation device for hemiplegics and the like which includes a torso-encircling band and a torsion shaft being mounted to the band for horizontal positioning across the small of the hemiplegic&#39;&#39;s back and for torsional rotation about the longitudinal axis of the shaft. An upper end of a leg-engaging arm is attached to one end of the torsion shaft and the lower end of the arm depends substantially parallel to and engages one leg of the hemiplegic. A swing lever is attached to the other end of the torsion shaft and extends forwardly and downwardly when the paralyzed leg of the hemiplegic is in a vertical position. The swing lever is freely extendible and is provided with a band at the distal end for attachment to the wrist of the person using the device. The device is intended to be used in conjunction with a cane, walker or the like.

United States Patent Talati et al.

AMBULATION DEVlCE Filed: Oct. 10, 1974 Appl. No.: 513,640

US. Cl 128/25 R; 128/80 F Int. Cl. A61H 1/02 Field of Search 128/25 R,25 B, 44, 49,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 8/1935 Cobb 128/25 X 2/1938Wagner. 128/80 F 3/1970 Holly 128/25 R Primary ExaminerLawrence W. Trapp[57] ABSTRACT An ambulation device for hemiplegics and the like whichincludes a torso-encircling band and a torsion shaft being mounted tothe band for horizontal positioning across the small of the hemiplegicsback and for torsional rotation about the longitudinal axis of theshaft. An upper end of a leg-engaging arm is attached to one end of thetorsion shaft and the lower end of the arm depends substantiallyparallel to and engages one leg of the hemiplegic. A swing lever isattached to the other end of the torsion-shaft and extends forwardly anddownwardly when the paralyzed leg of the hemiplegic is in a verticalposition. The swing lever is freely extendible and is provided with aband at the distal end for attachment to the wrist of the person usingthe device. The device is intended to be used in conjunction with acane, walker or the like.

7 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures US. Patent Dec. 2, 1975 3,923,045

AMBULATION DEVICE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the InventionThis invention relates generally to an ambulation or walking device forparalyzed persons, and more particularly to an ambulation device forhemiplegics and paraplegics.

2. Description of the Prior Art Various devices have been provided toassist in ambulation of paralyzed persons. One such device is thewalking motion device of Cobb, I U.S. Pat. No. 2,010,482 which provideswalking motion for a completely paralyzed person and which is, ofnecessity, quite complex in construction. Another such device is thehand-controlled leg brace of Holly, U.S. Pat. No. 3,502,071 which may beused by persons having use of the arm proximal to a paralyzed leg. Incontrast to the prior art, the present invention provides an ambulationdevice for hemiplegics and paraplegics such that the distal andunparalyzed arm or arms, as the case may be, of a hemiplegic orparaplegic may be used to provide ambulatory motion to the paralyzed legor legs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the broader aspects of thisinvention, there is provided an ambulation device for hemiplegics andparaplegics. This ambulation device includes a torso-encircling bandhaving opening and adjusting means, a plate being attached to the bandfor positioning in the small of the persons back, a pair of bearingsbeing mounted in horizontally spaced relationship to the plate, atorsion shaft being rotatably journalled through the bearings, an armwith the upper end thereof being attached to one end of the torsionshaft and having the lower end thereof in operative engagement with theparalyzed leg of the person, and a swing lever having a first end beingattached to the other end of the torsion shaft and having a second endextending forwardly in a suitable, adjusted position when the paralyzedleg of the hemiplegic is in a vertical position.

It is an object of this invention to provide an ambulation device whichmay be used by hemiplegics and paraplegics.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a leg-engagingand leg-swinging arm which is actuated by an arm operated swing lever onthe side of the person distal from the paralyzed leg.

It is still another object of this invention to provide atorso-encircling band having torsion shaft means mounted thereon forpositioning behind the small of the back of the hemiplegic or paraplegicand for transferring ambulatory motion from an unparalyzed am to aparalyzed leg on the opposite side of the person.

The above-mentioned and other features and objects of this invention andthe manner of obtaining them will become more apparent and the inventionitself will be best understood by reference to the following descriptionof an embodiment of the invention taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings: FIG. 1 is a backelevation of the ambulation device;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the ambulation device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top elevation of the ambulation device taken substantiallyas shown by view line 3-3 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a cross-section taken substantially along section line 44 ofFIG. 1, showing the means for attaching the lower end of the arm to theleg of, for example, a hemiplegic.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIGS. 1-4 ofthe drawings, the apparatus of the invention, generally indicated by thenumeral 10, comprises a torso-encircling band or belt 12, such as avelcro, having opening and adjusting means 14, a metal plate 16 beingattached to the belt 12 and preferably being contoured to conform to thesmall of the back of a person, such as a hemiplegic or paraplegic asbest seen in FIG. 2, a pair of bearings 18a and 18b each having bearingopenings 20a and 20b therethrough and being mounted to the metal plate16 in horizontal spaced-apart position with the bearing openings 20a and20b in axial alignment, a torsion shaft 22 having one end 24 thereofproximal to the paralyzed leg of the person and another end 26, aleg-engaging arm 28 having an upper end 30 thereof fixedly attached tothe end 24 of the torsion shaft 22 and having a lower end 32 dependingsubstantially parallel to a paralyzed, proximal leg 34 of thehemiplegic, and attaching means 36 which comprises a U-shapedleg-engaging member 38 with a base portion 40 thereof being attached tothe lower end 32 of the leg-engaging arm 28 and a legengaging strap 42such as a velcro, which includes an opening and adjusting means 44, aswing lever 46 which includes a first end 48 attached to the shaft end26 and a second forwardly projecting end 50 which carries awrist-attaching strap 51 having a conventional buckle or velcro.

It can be seen by inspection of FIGS. 1 and 2 that the shaft 22 and thearm 28, in the disclosed configuration, are made from a single piece ofmetallic bar stock integrally joined at the respective ends 24 and 30.In addition, it can be seen that the arm 28 includes a contoured portion52 which is formed to position a lower portion 54 of the arm 28 forwardof the torsion shaft 22 in substantially parallel relationship to theleg 34.

The swing lever 28 is composed essentially of two freely movable,telescoped rod elements 53 and 55, with the rod element 53 beingadjustably secured to the end of shaft 22 by means of a thumb screw 57.The rod element 53 is provided with a socket that receives the end 26,the thumb screw 57 being received in a threaded bore in element 53 thatopens into such socket to engage end 26. By tightening the screw 57, theelements 53 is locked to the shaft 22 such that swinging of the lever 46imparts corresponding rotation to shaft 22. Loosening screw 57 permitsadjusting the vertical angle of the handle to a desired position, whichin the usual situation will be downwardly from horizontal when arm 28 isvertical, tightening the screw 57 securing lever 46 in this position.

Lever 46 is articulated adjacent to shaft end 26 to swing horizontally.This articulation includes forming the rod element 53 in two parts, aclevis 59 and rod 61, the proximal end of rod 61 being formed flat to bereceived by clevis 59. An upright pin 63 pivotably connects clevis 59 tothe flattened rod end.

In operation, the torso-encircling band 12 is positioned around thewaist of the hemiplegic with the torsion shaft 22 in the small of thehemiplegics back and the opening and adjusting means 14, which may be avelcrotype fastener, is adjusted to securely position the ambulationdevice as shown in FIGS. 1-3. The lower end 32 of the leg-engaging arm28 is attached to the paralyzed leg 34, preferably near the ankle, bymeans of the U-shaped leg-engaging member 38 and the legengaging strap42 which cooperates with and which preferably encircles both the leg 34and the member 38. Another strap 63 provided with a buckle or velcrofastener securely wraps around the thigh and arm 28.

The strap 51 on lever 46 is wrapped around the wrist of the hemiplegicshealthy arm, the lever freely telescoping to proper length.

In using the ambulation device 10, it is assumed that the hemiplegicuses a cane to assist in ambulation, the cane being grasped in the usualmanner by the hand of his useful arm. In taking a step, he normallyextends the cane forwardly, his arm and wrist moving forwardly in doingso, and then leans on the cane thereby removing his weight from the leg34. As the wrist moves forwardly, the lever 46 extends and swingsupwardly, thereby swinging the arm 28 forwardly, carrying the leg 34with it. In this position, with weight on both the can and paralyzed leg34, he takes a step forwardly with his healthy leg to which he thenshifts his weight. The cane is then moved forwardly again, therebyrepeating the walking action using the paralyzed leg in the process.

By reason of the telescoping and articulated construction of the lever46, the hemiplegic can employ the usual movement of his healthy arm ashe walks with a cane, this movement thereby being uninhibited andnatural yet effective to swing his paralyzed leg forwardly in a walkingmotion. The adjustment provided by the screw 57 conforms lever 46 to thenatural position of this healthy arm.

Two of the ambulation devices may be employed by a paraplegic inassisting him to move his two paralyzed legs in a walking motion. Inthis case, both arms must, of course, be healthy, as each arm is neededto move the opposite leg. Canes may be manipulated with the two hands inessentially the same manner as described above for the hemiplegic. Thus,wherever the invention is explained hereinabove in connection withhemiplegics, paraplegics are also intended.

For paraplegics, the two ambulation devices preferably will use a commonplate 16 and torso-encircling band 12, the plate 16 supporting therespective bearings a and 20b and the two shafts 22.

As clearly shown by the preceding explanation, the

present device provides an extremely simple and effective means ofambulation for a hemiplegic or paraplegic in which the unparalyzed armon one side is used to actuate the good leg on the paralyzed side.

While there have been described above the principles of this inventionin connection with specific apparatus, it is to be clearly understoodthat this description is made only by way of example and not as alimitation to the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. An ambulation device for hemiplegics and the like which comprises:

a torso-encircling band;

torsion shaft means being mounted on said band for horizontallypositioning a torsion shaft across the small of a hemiplegics back andfor torsional rotation of said shaft about the longitudinal axisthereof;

a vertically extending leg-engaging arm extending alongside theparalyzed leg and having the upper end thereof attached to one end ofsaid torsion shaft and the lower end disposed therebelow;

means for attaching said lower end of said arm to the paralyzed leg ofsaid hemiplegic near the ankle; and

a swing lever having a first end thereof secured to the other end ofsaid torsion shaft and a second end extending forwardly therefrom.

2. The ambulation device of claim 1 in which said torsion shaft mountingcomprises a plate attached to said band, and a pair of spaced apartbearings carried by said plate and receiving said shaft for rotation.

3. The ambulation device of claim 1 in which said attaching meanscomprises a U-shaped leg-engaging member having the base portion thereofattached proximal to said lower end of said arm, being horizontallydisposed, and opening toward said other end of said torsion shaft.

4. The ambulation device of claim 1 in which said swing lever is freelyadjustable in length.

5. The ambulation device of claim 4 in which said swing lever includestwo freely telescoping rod elements, one of said rod elements beingjoined to said torsion shaft by pivot means that permits horizontalswinging movement of said swing lever.

6. The ambulation device of claim 5 in which said pivot means includes aclevis connection disposed adjacent to said shaft, and including strapmeans on the distal end of said swing lever for attaching said swinglever to the arm of a hemiplegic.

7. The ambulation device of claim 5 including means for adjustablysecuring said swing lever to said shaft in different angular positionsradially of said shaft.

1. An ambulation device for hemiplegics and the like which comprises: atorso-encircling band; torsion shaft means being mounted on said bandfor horizontally positioning a torsion shaft across the small of ahemiplegic''s back and for torsional rotation of said shaft about thelongitudinal axis thereof; a vertically extending leg-engaging armextending alongside the paralyzed leg and having the upper end thereofattached to one end of said torsion shaft and the lower end disposedtherebelow; means for attaching said lower end of said arm to theparalyzed leg of said hemiplegic near the ankle; and a swing leverhaving a first end thereof secured to the other end of said torsionshaft and a second end extending forwardly therefrom.
 2. The ambulationdevice of claim 1 in which said torsion shaft mounting comprises a plateattached to said band, and a pair of spaced apart bearings carried bysaid plate and receiving said shaft for rotation.
 3. The ambulationdevice of claim 1 in which said attaching meaNs comprises a U-shapedleg-engaging member having the base portion thereof attached proximal tosaid lower end of said arm, being horizontally disposed, and openingtoward said other end of said torsion shaft.
 4. The ambulation device ofclaim 1 in which said swing lever is freely adjustable in length.
 5. Theambulation device of claim 4 in which said swing lever includes twofreely telescoping rod elements, one of said rod elements being joinedto said torsion shaft by pivot means that permits horizontal swingingmovement of said swing lever.
 6. The ambulation device of claim 5 inwhich said pivot means includes a clevis connection disposed adjacent tosaid shaft, and including strap means on the distal end of said swinglever for attaching said swing lever to the arm of a hemiplegic.
 7. Theambulation device of claim 5 including means for adjustably securingsaid swing lever to said shaft in different angular positions radiallyof said shaft.